Michigan's January jobless rate was 14.3%

LANSING, MI – Michigan's jobless rate remained stable in January. It dropped very slightly to 14.3%.

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The state's unemployment rate has held pretty steady at a little above or below 15% since last summer. The jobless rate in January might have been worse except that already downsized factory workforces didn't face big winter layoffs.

The manufacturing, retail, and construction sectors of Michigan's economy all lost jobs over the course of last year. There were slight increases in education and health care.

There were 693 thousand people in Michigan who were out of work and looking for jobs in January. When people who've quit looking are counted along with people working part-time but wanting full time employment, Michigan's rate of unemployment and under-employment was 21.9%.